final position isn't decided by top 6 mini table after allwe need to maintain same home record as last season which wont be easy(w15 d2 l2)and getting 10 away wins(we didn't even beat any of bottom 4 teams away last season lol)not exactly delusional to expect winning those sort of fixtures

but that purely looking at league....Europa will have its impactThursday-Sunday matches are doomed

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"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

@Sri wrote:Stop right there. I think Arsenal are rated just fine. There's a LOT to be addressed.

4th place is coming home.

There's a LOT to be addressed before Emery can lift Fourth Place Trophy. Being *only* 4 points behind league leaders after 7 games is only flattering to deceive. Not even one performance so far has been comprehensively convincing. There's been flashes of improvement interspersed with the traces resulting from decades of Wengerball being deeply ingrained.

the important thing is Unai is gradually fixing out what works and who doesnt, and is learning the team as the season goes on and I feel you can see steady improvements from game to game. Not saying they are gonna turn into City or anything but I think finishing top 4, with the addition of at least 1 quality signing in January won't be so crazy to reach for especially with the form United are in and the injury problems Spurs are currently having.

In terms of numbers, I think Emery is actually doing worse than Wenger's last season atm. There's no noticeable upswing in xG for the attack and a worse xGA (xGA vs Watford was 2.38, which is crap for a top side at home vs a mid-table team).

The wins are good, if expected. But we lucked out big time against Watford and were lucky against Everton the game before, too. Without an improvement in performance the run will come to an abrupt end soon.

At the moment, the front four is his biggest problem. Our ball retention is suffering because the spacing our front four is very biased to the left hand side, since that's where our front four all gravitate. We struggle for penetration since, again, everyone is clustered on one side while only Bellerin is on the right. Half our defensive problems come from giving the opposition too many chances to transition. And although Emery emphasised pressing when he arrived, there's no sign that one has been implemented properly yet, even though the numbers show we're running more than we used to.

Hopefully, he'll drop Ramsey from the side and return Ozil to the middle because as it is, we're lacking technically in the centre of the pitch and asking more of Ramsey and Aubameyang in the build-up than we should be. They are not good build-up players.

It's still something of a feeling out process for Emery and he's clearly still learning which players can do what he wants and which won't be able to. But there are also some very obvious issues that he needs to address soon.

Tbf the goal we conceded was just a basic mistake and not indicative of a wider tactical issue. More a fault from a player who typically doesn't make mistakes, so nothing we should be overly concerned about.

Can't complain about 9 straight wins, but this has been a kind run of games. West Ham (H), Cardiff (A), Newcastle (A), Vorskla (H), Everton (H), Watford (H), Brentford (H), Qarabag (A) now Fulham (A). These are games we should be winning and doing so isn't anything amazing for this group of players. Good, but within expectation.

Post the int. break we've got Leicester (H), Sporting CP (A), Palace (A), Blackpool (H) and Liverpool (H). We could on a 13 win run yet I'd still be concerned about that Liverpool game. That's going to be a real test for this group.

I think he's a good choice. But I also think the possibility that this goes well is slim to none.

I have to concede he's struggled far less than I thought the situation would cause him to.He's doing a really, really good job and settled in very fast. Unreal to not have turmoil after such a departure as Wenger's.

It's because we dealt with most of the turmoil before appointing him by putting together a new leadership structure. All he had to do when he arrived was work with the team. Didn't have to worry about anything else.

Also helps that a lot of the team actually didn't play for long under Wenger. A lot of the old squad were moved out in his final year.

I think he's a good choice. But I also think the possibility that this goes well is slim to none.

I have to concede he's struggled far less than I thought the situation would cause him to.He's doing a really, really good job and settled in very fast. Unreal to not have turmoil after such a departure as Wenger's.

@Jay29 wrote:It's because we dealt with most of the turmoil before appointing him by putting together a new leadership structure. All he had to do when he arrived was work with the team. Didn't have to worry about anything else.

Also helps that a lot of the team actually didn't play for long under Wenger. A lot of the old squad were moved out in his final year.

you have 2 top class strikers that can get a goal out of nothing and that helps a lot.